Apologies for how long it took. I wanted to get all three out of the way, and Mags ended up taking longer than expected. Wanted to get her intro & egg claiming out of the way so she can get to interacting with other people soon.
And fyi, Isabella's profile was posted in the NPCs section. It's small, but just some fun information~
EDIT: Crap, I forgot to tag again. Will get better at it.
Location: Beryl Town Interacting With: Isabella (NPC)
Watching as the crowd began to disperse, Noah quickly turned to make his get-away, with Kit in one arm and the other supporting the egg in the carrier in front of him. He was about to head down the stairs when he heard a loud, familiar voice ring out.
“STOP RIGHT THERE!” Isabella cried out, stopping Noah in his tracks. Panting heavily from all the running she did, Noah’s coworker proceeded to stomp her way towards him. Noah briefly considered running, but he wouldn’t get very far with the egg he was carrying.
“Ah, Isabella. I thought that was you…screaming.” Noah murmured, avoiding the woman’s gaze. He really didn’t want to have this conversation with her here, in public.
“What are you doing?” She angrily inquired, practically hissing at him.
“Well, I just finished my speech that I did for the festival,” he answered, pausing for a moment. “And now I’m about to get ready for my trip--”
“What trip? Who said you could go on a trip?!” Isabella asked, growing more and more visibly irate.
“I did, and everything has already been approved of.” The young professor explained, feeling Kit stir a little bit in his arms. The little Pokemon was eager to get down and growing more and more excited by the commotion.
“But you can’t just LEAVE.” Isabella exclaimed, her loud voice attracting the attention of people walking by.
“Of course, I can. I do it all the time. This isn’t the first time I’ve taken time off; you know that.” Noah reminded her.
“Yes, but not for so long and not during OUR BUSIEST TIME OF THE YEAR. What are you thinking? We need you!” The woman cried out again, this time grabbing her coworker by the shirt, as if to physically stop him from leaving.
‘More like you need me.’ Noah thought to himself, sighing heavily.
Despite her emotional quirks, Noah liked Isabella. Liked her enough, at least. Compared to their other coworkers, she was one of the few who tolerated Noah’s attitude quite well, all things considered. She did her job well, just needed some emotional support some days. Well, most days. In fact, nearly all of the time, really. But that was just a small price to pay for good work.
“The Institute will be just fine without me. It’s just for a couple of months.” He assured her.
“The busiest months we have in the year! Ugh, this is gonna be a nightmare. I can’t believe you’re just LEAVING.” She said, her thoughts running a mile a minute. Suddenly, her face darkened a bit. “No, you are not leaving. You can’t leave! Or else everything is going to fall apart. This is going to be a disaster. There is going to be so much work to do and… I can’t do this-I can’t--You can’t--”
What was once simply rage, was now befuddled by anxiety. Tears started to swell in the corner of Isabella’s eyes as she fought them back, her breathing becoming more and more irregular. She was so absorbed in her panicking that she failed to notice one of her Pokeballs going off, a bright light briefly flashing as a tall, towering Pokemon stood behind her.
“Oh, hello, Hat.” Noah said with a soft smile, knowing exactly what was coming next. He was wondering when she was going to show up.
Hearing the Hatterene’s name being called out, Isabella suddenly froze and paled, only letting out a small squeak slip out. Slowly, she turned around to see the angry Hatterene staring her down.
“H-H-Hat what are you doing out?!” She stammered nervously. But she knew exactly why Hat was out and braced herself as she watched a light blue and pink tentacle coming towards her. “Oh, no! Please, no Hat! Not again! I’ll be calm, I swear! Ahhhh!”
But unfortunately for Isabella, Hat was not feeling merciful. The Pokemon grabbed the frantic young woman by the collar and began to drag her away; somewhere where Hat could help her trainer “calm down.” On lookers watched as the Pokemon dragged its wailing trainer away, unsure of whether to step in and help or not.
“You’ll do great, Isabella. I believe in you. Don’t be too harsh on her, Hat.” Noah called out to the two of them Noah. The Hatterene paused to look at him, as if considering his words but quickly returned back to her task at hand and continued dragging the woman off somewhere. Noah knew he probably should’ve intervened, but...as the saying went, “not his Mankeys; not his circus.” Isabella would be fine. He’d let the two of them work it out.
“As for us, we have a journey to prepare for.” He said to the Pokemon in his arms. Kit promptly responded with a loud bark and a wag of the tail. Next to the little Pokemon, the pink and white egg sat silently in the carrier. Noah began making his way to town, in search of one of the Morpheus booths. He had a bundle to redeem.
~~
Cassandra Stern
Location: Beryl Town Interacting with: Vinny
Cassandra Stern watched silently as the crowd began to disperse. She had assessed that the speech had gone over well, or at least well enough. She had expected to take a moment and speak with the professor privately afterwards, but it seemed that he was…preoccupied, to say the least. Cassandra watched as the two had a very loud exchange, until she heard someone from behind her speak up and to her.
"Ms. Stern! Ms. Stern! Vinny Verdana with the Castelia Crown. Is there time in your busy schedule for an interview?"
Cassandra quickly whipped around and was taken aback to see a very tall man with even taller blonde hair. She physically recoiled at the mention of the word “interview,” struggling to register the rest of what the man had said to her.
‘No, not again.’ She thought to herself, a bit of panic beginning to rise in her chest. But as she stared at the man, she couldn’t find the PokeNational logo anywhere on him. Confused, she took a moment to process what the man had said to her.
“Castelia...Crown? You are far away from home.” She observed, staring at the man cautiously. With how bizarre the man looked, she almost wanted to dismiss him as a threat. But she knew better than that.
“As for the matters of interviews, normally I would say no. But today I am feeling generous. You may ask a few questions, and they must remain on the topic of today’s festival or Morpheus itself; anything else and the interview is over.” She stated carefully, casting a stern look in the man’s direction.
Usually, interviews were the last thing on Cassandra’s mind to participate in, but it was a necessary tool to master. She could not afford to have the media against her again and thus she needed strong control over how she was presented. This interview with the strange man alone wouldn’t’ mean much, but it would be one of many that would help cultivate an impenetrable reputation for her.
She waited for the man’s response.
~~
Mags Specter
Location: Beryl Town Interacting with: Mim & NPCs
The dining area of the festival consisted mostly a large array of wooden tables with booths with food surrounding it. As most of the people had gone to see the speech, it was mostly an empty venue, with the exception of the workers at the booth, and people such as Mags and Mim who got there early.
Hunched over in her seat, Mags felt like she was gonna hurl. The food they had at the festival was free, which was great, but there was no variety as it was all egg-themed dishes. Boiled eggs, deviled eggs, fried eggs, omelets, sunny side up eggs, egg soup, egg sandwiches; whatever it was, if it had egg in it, it was here. The deserts? A cake in the shape of an egg. Cupcakes shaped like little eggs. It was all too much. After having gone through eight plates of food, Mags could say with confidence that she never wanted to even look at an egg again.
“Mim, you need to eat real food, not just cake.” Mags said, groaning as she turned to her smaller companion. Normally, she wasn’t one to eat this much, but free food was free food. Besides, with how tight they were financially, it might be awhile before they could eat this good again.
Mim, who had eaten nine plates of food at this point, was not nearly as full as his human trainer and was on his tenth plate of cake. Taking the fork with his spectral black arm, he quickly stopped shoving food under his makeshift hood and pointed towards the pile of cupcake wrappers as evidence that he had eaten something other than cake.
“Cupcakes are cake, you dolt.” She chided him. Annoyed, she quickly took the plate of cake away from him. She heard some low grumbling coming from him. “I mean it. Go get an egg to eat.”
But before Mim could even get out of his chair, an older woman appeared before them and stood in his way, saying “No. You both are done.”
“What?! Why? It said the food is free!” Mags cried out, assuming that it was about money. It’s normally about money.
“Yes. It’s free...to everyone. Not just you two. If you two keep going at this rate, there won’t be food left for everyone else!” The older woman explained, shaking her head at the two of them.
“Oh, come on. We didn’t have that much. Besides, look at him. He’s a growing boy! And me? I’m just skin and bones here. Have some pity, lady.” Mags said, pointing to her thin wrist. Next to her, Mim did his best to flash a pitiful, endearing look. As best as he could underneath that Pikachu costume, at least.
“Only growing either of you are doing is outwards.” The woman retorted, not impressed by either of their vain attempts at appeal to her.
“But--” Mags tried to say, before being cut off.
“No.” The older woman said, wagging her finger at the two of them. “No more. And that’s final. You can stay and sit here, but no more food.”
“Hmph. Stupid old bag.” Mags grumbled, crossing her arms across her chest as she watched the older woman leave their table and head back to one of the food booths. “We’ll just come back towards the end and get some more, when they’ve forgotten our faces. Although, if I have to eat one more egg again I may just be sick.”
Mim quietly nodded his head as he continued eating his cake. Bored, Mags turned to one of the TVs that was nearby. It was showing video footage of the speech that was being held at the stage area. She could see a pink haired man, a professor or something or other, give a speech about the festival. It was boring and Mags tuned out most of it, but quickly got excited when something caught her eye.
Red and white and looking very fluffy was a Hisuian Zorua on the screen, out of its Pokeball and walking around on the stage. Mags recognized it immediately as a Ghost type Pokemon she had seen before.
“Oooh! Look Mim, look! A ghostie! Isn’t it so cute?! I want one of those!” She exclaimed, shooting up from her chair in excitement. Amidst eating his cake, Mim made some disgruntled gurgle noises that Mags could quickly detect a tone of jealousy in. Mags couldn’t understand Mim exactly, but she had been around the Pokemon long enough to get the general gist.
“Come on, Mim. We’ve talked about this. I can’t become the number one Ghost type trainer or become a Ghost Gym Leader with just one Ghost Pokemon. I need a team, at least! Remember how many Granny Mae has?” Mags explained, looking at her little spectral companion. “You’ll always be my number one, you know that.”
Mim continued to make more disgruntled gurgling noises, but eventually relented. Giving a small nod in understanding. Mags patted him on the head.
“Besides, you’ve always wanted a buddy to play with. You’re gonna get a new baby sister or brother! Isn’t that awesome?” She said, smiling.
Although Mags did her best to entertain Mim as much as she could, there were many times where Mags had to work and couldn’t bring Mim along or there wasn’t anything for Mim to do. So, for a lot of the time he was just...bored. Mags always told herself she would get a companion for Mim, but she just never had the time when she was in Obsidian City, working for Granny Mae. Now they had an opportunity to do that.
Mim, on the other hand, was not as sold on the idea of having a “baby sibling” to have around. Mags made it sound like it would be fun, but would it be? Mags said a lot of things that weren’t always true, after all. Gazing off into the distance quizzically, Mim was unsure how to think about the whole thing.
Mags attention returned swiftly back to the TV upon hearing the words “Pokemon eggs.” She listened as the professor continued his speech and became more and more excited with each passing word.
“That’s what we need! We gotta get one of those free eggs, Mim! And we gotta do it fast, too. He said, ‘first come, first serve’ which means they won’t last long. We don’t want to wait too long or else all of the ghostie eggs will be gone.” Mags said, turning to her little companion once more.
Suddenly, a woman with purple hair was on the video screen instead. Giving some boring speech about dreams or something, blah blah blah. But it was what she said at the end that caught Mags truly by surprise.
“Holy smokes! 5,000 Pokedollars...for free?!” She exclaimed, jumping out of her seat in excitement once more. She turned to Mim. “That’s it! Mim, finish your cake! We gotta get moving before all the chumps take the goodies.”
As Mags quickly began to clean up after them, Mim took a few rapid fork-fulls of cake and shoved them into his mouth underneath the hood. Mags quickly took their plates and dumped the contents into a trash can, and placed the plates on a tray designated for them.
“Thanks for the food!” She called out to the staff, waving them goodbye.
“Get lost!” The older woman cried out. Annoyed, Mags just stuck out her tongue at the old lady and walked off.
~~
Unfortunately for the two of them, with the Institute’s speech over, that meant that more and more people were crowding the streets. Afraid to miss out on what she was looking forward to, Mags ran through most of these people, rudely bumping into folks and gently pushing anyone who stood in her way. She stormed through the bulk of the crowd, with Mim riding on her shoulder.
To her delight, it didn’t take long to find one of the egg booths that the professor had mentioned. But to her disappointment, the line was long. Fortunately, she had a plan. Quietly, she cut the line, standing right in front of the fifth person in it; a kid.
“Hey, no cutting!” The boy cried out. He looked to be about eight or ten years old.
“Shut it, Dweeb! I was here the whole time!” Mags hissed in a harsh whisper, not trying to draw attention to herself. Fortunately for her, the two women in front of her were busy in conversation and the guy behind the kid was busy talking on his phone. None of them likely paid attention to who was in front or behind them, either. As far as the world knew, it was the kid’s word against hers.
“No, you weren’t!” the kid argued.
“Yes, I was!” Mags argued back.
“You better leave, or I’ll tell my Dad.” The young boy threatened. Mags had to hold back from laughing.
“Oooh, how scary. You know, I don’t think you’re ready for a Pokemon yet if you’re just gonna call for Daddy every time things get tough.” She argued, pointing at the kid. “In fact, do you know what people like you are called where I come from? Wimps! Wimpy wimp wimps.”
“I-I’m not a w-wimp…” The kid sniffled, his eyes beginning to water up.
“Oh jeez, don’t cry, man. Listen, you’re not a wimp.” Mags assured the child. She considered briefly on patting him on the back, but decided against it.
“But you just said--” The boy said, confused.
“...just as long as you keep quiet and get over me being in front of you. Otherwise, you’re a wimp. Got it?” Mags explained, feeling a judgmental stare coming from Mim, who still sat on her shoulder. The kid was silent for a while, thinking on what Mags had said, when he finally turned to her.
“Lady, you’re mean.” He stated, shooting her a judgmental look.
“No, I’m tough.” She corrected him.
‘And smart. Any other chump would’ve been forced to wait in that long line. But not me!’ She thought to herself.
“Seems more like you’re just mean to me…” The kid murmured, seemingly giving up on getting Mags to the back of the line. Mags suddenly felt a twinge of guilt in her heart, and started pondering if she was in fact being mean to the kid, when suddenly it became her turn to go up to the lady at the egg booth. She practically ran to the booth.
“Oh, hello dear. What can I--” The old woman tending to the booth started to say, but was quickly interrupted.
“GHOST!” Mags exclaimed, right in the woman’s face. “Ghost type, please. And let it be a cute one at that. Or a strong one. Can you tell if it’s a boy or a girl? Oh, you probably can’t. Well, then let’s just settle for a cute ghost. No, wait! I mean a strong ghost. Or do I want a cute ghost?”
The old woman tending the booth listened to Mags ramble on like this for a few minutes, patiently waiting for the girl to stop, but when it seemed like the girl was never going to shut up, she smiled.
“I see. Ohoho. I know just what you need, dearie.” The old woman said, nodding her head gently, but Mags barely heard a word she said, only to stop talking when she saw the lady leave to go to the back of the booth. A minute or two passed as Mags impatiently waited for the old woman to return. When the old woman finally did return, she held a cream-colored egg with a red dot in the middle in her arms and promptly handed it to Mags.
“Here you go.” The old woman said with a smile.
“Oh, it’s so…not purple. Like, aren’t they supposed to be purple? Or black? Maybe even orange? Are you sure you got the right one?” She inquired, looking confused as she inspected the egg. Even Mim looked confused. Mags briefly wondered if the old woman had heard her request at all.
“Sure as rain, dear. Now go on, enjoy yourself.” The old lady said, gently shooing her away. With her new egg in hand, Mags walked away from the egg booth, still very confused.
“Don’t suppose you can tell what kind of Pokemon it is, can you?” She asked Mim, who was now down by her feet.
Looking at the egg again, she couldn’t tell what was inside. Mags could see that the egg was bigger than what she expected it to be and weighed enough to require two hands to carry it. For a Ghost Pokemon, she didn’t expect it to be heavy. It was warm, too. Although that last part wasn’t as strange.
Responding to her question, Mim shook his head no.
“Figures.” Mags sighed, giving up on the subject for now. She quickly took her backpack off her back and placed the egg inside where it would be less awkward to carry. “Oh well, guess we’ll find out. Mim, get ready to be an older brother, soon! For now, lets go get our money!”
Yay!! I’m kinda stupid busy through the weekend, but I will try to throw an intro post together in the next couple day! Still have no idea what I’m doing for the egg lol. Also, you mentioned the players getting money as part of that starter bundle… is that the 500p that are on our CSs?
No worries and no rush. :) Looking forward to your post!
For your question, no, the 500p is just what everyone starts with (regardless of their financial status in-world). Cassandra's gift (which includes 5,000p) is something you can opt-in with at the beginning. You can technically skip it if you want to.
EDIT: If the money is too much/too generous this early on, we can always reduce it. Just fyi.
Edit(x2): Bug, Fairy, Fighting, and Dark Gym Leaders are now all up to date!
Edit(x3): Ground Gym Leader's teams are now up. Working on Rock's now.
I removed Kit's egg move (for reasons).
I also edited the Map/Pokemon Location information page, basically took out the water Pokemon in Route 18 and put them in Route 19. So now, Route 18 just has the birds. Did this cause it's mostly just a bridge for the whole route so it wouldn't make much sense to include anything else.
Damn you for promoting gacha gaming with these eggs.
LOL. Are you are referring to Pokefarm or the whole egg giving thing in general? If it's the former, I didn't know! Back in my day it was just a little clicker site.
Located in the center of Starre region. Although large in size, most of the actual residential part of the town makes up only about half of the area. The rest are mostly large fields that belong to the Institute. The Institute of Beryl Town is the largest of its kind in the region and home to many Pokemon owned by various trainers. The fortifications of the Institute’s property are well kept and there have been no complaints from the Beryl Town residents in regard to the Pokemon there. Other than the Institute, there is the Starre Academy, a prestigious school for Pokemon trainers. It is tradition in the Starre region every year to hold a ceremony for the beginning of the Championship League season and to give trainers a Pokemon egg; a symbol of a new beginning and potential.
It was a bright, beautiful day. The weather was clear skies, only an occasional cloud in sight. It was warm, but not hot out. The streets of Beryl Town were decorated with beautiful flowers, bright banners and packed to the brim with people. Many of the visitors had reclused themselves to the grassy hills that surrounded the stage that stood at the center of the town as they waited for the festival to begin.
The stage stood behind the Institute and was greatly overwhelmed by the size of the crowd it had. It was a small stage; put together last minute and not with the best of resources to do so. But it got the job done. Even if everyone couldn’t see the people on the stage, they could certainly hear them. The staff at the Institute were able to snag a good sound system prior to the event.
Security personnel stood as a thick barrier between the stage and the audience surrounding it. Misbehavior wasn’t expected to occur, but it was better to be safe than sorry. A tall, pink haired man made his way to the stage and stood in the center of it, standing close to the microphone. He wore black shirts and pants with a white coat, but more noticeably, had a large baby carrier that hung over his chest, but instead of a baby, a large pink and white Pokemon egg in a sealed glass container sat.
“Hello. Welcome, everyone.” Noah said calmly, with a faint smile. He detached the microphone from its stand, as it was far too awkward to lean forward speaking into it with the egg carrier. “Welcome back to our returning faces, and another welcome to our new faces. And to those of you who travelled cross seas to be here, I say, welcome…to Starre!”
A wave of applause erupted over the audience. While majority of the audience were Starre citizens themselves, many of the people standing amongst the crowd were travelers from afar - Beryl Town’s New Beginning’s Festival being a well-known starting tourist destination for trainers, coordinators, and travelers alike. It served as a helpful way to assist these groups, but also aid the Institute’s objectives as well.
“For those of you that don’t know, my name is Noah Magnolia. I am Head Professor here at The Starre Region Institute. Some of you from the Academy may remember my face from a lecture I gave. Noah said with a brief wave. While he never did too many lectures (and most were against his will), he imagined that some would remember his face from them. If they weren’t busy sleeping through the lecture itself.
“Here at the Institute, we study Pokemon. We have a variety of experts with a wide range of focuses of interest on the subject. As for myself, I-I…” He suddenly stopped, frozen stiff as a spare hand clamped over one of the Pokeballs on his belt. He tried to continue to speak but struggled. “I-I…just hold on…wait-!”
But what was coming could not wait. A sudden flash of light erupted from the red and white ball, and a Hisuian Zorua popped out onto the stage. White and red fur glistened under the bright sun as the creature oriented itself. The crowd became audibly excited at the sight of him, most notably the voices of children could be heard as they expressed their surprise and interest. The Hisuian Zorua, named Kit, calmly gazed at the crowd, but did not seem particularly impressed and began to wander the stage. Noah sighed and shook his head, but continued his speech.
“As for myself, I study how Pokemon and people interact. Pokemon and people have been living together for ages, and their history is long and complex. Just like people, Pokemon have a great impact on the world we live in…for better, or for worse.” He said, glaring at the white and red creature that was satisfied with its inspection of the area and promptly sat by its trainer’s feet.
“The Institute has obtained a variety of species of Pokemon over the years. Some only stay for a little while, but some have stuck around for quite time. And during that time, it is often that our Poke-friends leave us little gifts.” The professor said, gesturing to the egg that he was carrying. “However, how these gifts come about is a secret, I’m afraid.”
A jest, but a necessary one. Years ago, Noah made the mistake of telling the truth of how the Pokemon eggs came about and got in trouble. There were children present, and Starre sensibilities prohibited speaking about…such things! The young professor found it annoying, tiresome, and childish, but was forced to oblige.
“The tradition of handing out Pokemon eggs on this day is over hundreds of years old and it is one of Beryl Town’s most well-known.” He stated to the audience, pressing a button on the controller in his right hand as he pointed it to the large screen behind him. A picture of one of the Institute egg booths, like the ones that were currently in the town, appeared on the screen. “Today, we’ll be giving out free Pokemon eggs - one per person until we run out. First come, first serve.”
“The egg symbolizes new beginnings. Potential. Possibility.” He continued, gazing at the audience. “And what better way to start off the League season than with that? Even if you don’t plan to take on the League, Pokemon Contests, or go travelling the region at all; you can still start off this season with a new face, a new friend, and with many memories to come for both of you.”
Just then, Noah could feel movement by his feet. Looking down he could see Kit alert and gazing at something across and at the end of the stage. Suddenly, the Pokemon began to bark like crazy swiftly makes his way to that direction. Before the young professor could call after him, the crowd suddenly burst into excitement, catching Noah off guard. Turning his attention back to Kit, he could finally see what all the noise was about.
It was him.
“Well, now. What do we have here? The Starry Prince himself! What a surprise.” Noah said, visibly surprised. He watched as the tall mask figure came closer to him, with Kit in-toe, wagging his tail fervently. “I suppose you’re here to check out the future competition, yes? I imagine we have a lot of trainers here eager to take you on…”
The Prince nodded. He never spoke, not in public at least. If anyone ever heard his voice, it was in private with no recordings of it.
Standing head-to-head at the same height, The Starry Prince was in his usual attire, mask included. It was always difficult to tell his mood due to the mask, but his body posture remained formal and dignified. Kit remained ever by the Prince’s feet, pacing back and forth between their legs in excitement. Noah waited for the audience to die down a bit before speaking.
“Tell me, Prince; any of these fine trainers seem promising?” Noah asked, gesturing towards the audience. The audience got riled up once more, and Noah could hear a few individuals offering to take the Prince on there and then. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the time for that.
Reaching into his pocket, the Starry Prince pulled out a stack of small cards and began to shuffle through them. While the man did not speak, he still communicated. Often through printed out answers on a pack of small cards. Pulling one out, he handed it to the professor.
“Hm…says here…” Noah murmured, scanning the card. “He says ‘yes.’ Well, now. Isn’t that good news?”
Noah smiled to the audience as he heard the audience get riled up once more, this time more fervently than the last. The voices were louder this time, and some of them more others.
“Get ready, Prince! This year its going to be me who wears that crown!” One cried out, a young man near the front row.
“No, it’s gonna be me who beats him! I’m going to be the Starre Champion!” Cried out another, only a few rows behind him. The crowd erupted into more cheers at the prospect of a battle.
“Such enthusiasm! But perhaps we should save it for the Pokemon battles, yeah?” Noah remarked, a little uneasy at the sudden rise in excitement. He didn’t want the crowd to get too rowdy. Feeling and hearing the audience die down a little more, the professor continued to speak. “Well, now, Prince. Do you have anything else to say to these lovely people? Words of encouragement, perhaps?”
The masked man took only a few seconds this time to find the card he was looking for and promptly handed it to the pink-haired professor.
“It says here, ‘Reach for the stars!’” Noah read in an excited voice. Beside him, the Prince struck a dynamic and dramatic pose; one hand pointing to the heavens and to the very stars themselves. The audience cheered loudly once more. Noah handed the cards back to the Prince and watched him turn around and leave for the very exit he came in with. Kit tried to follow after the Prince, but Noah promptly made a quick snapping of his fingers to signal to the Pokemon to stay. Although it could not be heard over the audience’s cheering, Kit whined and whimpered his way back to trainer’s feet, disappointed.
“There he goes. Never sticks around long, does he? Such a strange one…” Noah murmured, his eyes transfixed at the direction the Prince had left in. Suddenly, a shocked looked was etched onto his face. “Oh, almost forgot. While The Institute has hosted the New Beginnings Festival many times before, we would not have been able to host an event of this size and caliber without the help from our friends at Morpheus. Everyone, please give a round of applause for Miss Cassandra Stern, their CEO!”
While nowhere near as excited as they were for the Prince, the audience gave a healthy attention and clapped for the Morpheus CEO and they all watched as she walked up and onto the stage, towards the professor.
“Thank you.” She said politely, holding a cordless microphone in her hand. Standing firm and tall, she was dressed neither too formal nor too casual. She wore a light grey suit jacket and skirt to match, with a black shirt underneath the suit jacket and black heels. Her hair was well combed and kept. There was an air of professionalism about her.
“Miss Stern, do you have anything you wish to say?” Noah inquired, turning to his honorary guest speaker. He could feel Kit digging at his legs, wanting up. But now was not the time. The little one would have to wait.
“Yes, I do.” She said, stepping forward she turned her attention to the audience. “Hello. It is nice to see so many hopeful and eager faces today. At Morpheus, we believe in the power of dreams. Not just literal dreams, but the everyday dreams as well. Hopes, aspirations, longings, desires…all of these are what shapes the world.”
“The world can be a cruel, unforgiving place.” She continued, her expression darkening slightly. “But it is dreams that keep us grounded, give us something to move towards to. Without them, we have nothing. With that in mind, it is my intention to foster these dreams. Specifically, your dreams.”
There was a slight murmur amongst the crowd. The audience watched curiously as Noah handed the Morpheus CEO the small remote that he had held on to this whole time. With it in her hand, she turned to the large screen behind them and clicked the remote, a picture of purple-themed booth with the lettering and logo “MORPHEUS” on the header.
“All around town are these Morpheus booths. Inside these booths, you will find our Starry Dream Bundles. Given out by our staff, these bundles will contain the items to help you achieve your dreams. They contain Poke Balls, Potions, Items, and the like.” She said, pausing for a moment. “Finally, we will transfer 5,000G to your account. These are available to all who desire them.”
“Oh, my. How generous. That is quite the gift. Especially to so many people.” Noah remarked, genuinely surprised at the woman’s generosity. Part of him doubted that she could truly give so much to so many people.
“It is not a gift.” Cassandra stated, not blinking.
“Oh?”
“It is an investment.” She clarified, heavy emphasis on her words. She turned to the audience. “I am investing in all of you. Investing in your willpower and determination to see your dreams come true; to cultivate a new world, a better world with those dreams. A brighter future for us all.”
“I see. Well, on behalf of everyone here, I must say, thank you. Hopefully, there will be one left for me as well.” He jested, smiling softly. He did not need the money.
“Oh? Professor, are you planning on taking on the League as well? Or perhaps, take a trip around Starre like the rest of the trainers here?” Cassandra inquired curiously, mild surprise in her voice.
“Actually, I am. Oh, that’s right. I forgot to mention. This year, I will also be journeying around Starre this League season. As your fellow adventurer, please treat me well.” He said, making a slight bow towards the audience. It was not normally in his style to tell the whole world his habits, but given he was already here and the topic came up…why not?
The audience was quiet for a moment until a loud “WHAT?!” broke from the audience. Thousands of heads turned to see the source of the noise from one frazzled purple haired and positively irate woman staring straight at Noah. It was Isabella, one of his fellow researchers who worked for the Institute. And the one who got to inherit all of his duties when leaves.
‘Ah, I forgot to tell her.’ He realized.
“Whoops…” Noah murmured, watching as the woman made her way rapidly towards him amongst the crowd. He could hear her shouting all sorts of obscenities but tried not to pay attention to them. Gingerly, he turned back to the audience. “Anyway, thank you again Miss Stern for your generosity and thank you to everyone who came here today. The food is free and for everyone; please, help yourselves. But remember to make an orderly line and wait for your turn to be served. Enjoy the event and have yourself an eggxcellent day!”
A loud, audible groan bellowed from the audience, causing Noah to flash a bright smile. Carefully and awkwardly, he bent over to pick up Kit from the ground. He looked around cautiously as he tried to find an escape route to avoid his impending doom. Determining his exit, he turned to the audience one last time.
“To new beginnings!"
~~
1.) Redeem your free egg! An Institute staff member will be attending each of the Institute egg booths where you can redeem your Pokemon egg. The idea is that the staff member gives you an egg and you don’t really “choose” (but you do, lol). If you want me to RP the staff member, just let me know. Or you guys can do it yourself. Up to you! I’ll let you know when the egg is set to hatch.
And just a fun thing: I’ll be describing my eggs based off of Pokefarm’s customized Pokemon egg designs. I just like them cause their more personalized, but if you want to use the generic egg design look or craft your own version of a _____’s egg design; that’s fine!
At regular Institute booths, you can get a free Rotom phone if your character doesn’t have one already (up to you). Characters can either get a free physical map or download a map app for their Rotom phone, along with a free Pokedex app for the phone that the staff at the booths can install for you. No physical Pokedex though.
2.) Redeem your Starry Dream Bundle! At the Morpheus booths, you can redeem it + be wired your money to your Rotom phone which has access to your bank account. In the Starry Dream Bundle you get:
5x Pokeballs
3x potions
3x Cherri Berries
3x Oran Berries
3x Pecha Berries
3x Rawst Berries
3x Aspear Berries
1x Antidotes
1x Paralyze Heal
1x Burn Heal
1x Ice Heal
Plus, the money.
3.) Talk to people: fellow players or NPCs! Make friends/travelling companions or enemies/rivals! For NPCs to talk to, only Cassandra Stern is available. The Prince has left, so he is not an option.
4.) After redeeming your Starry Dream Bundle, you can go shopping at the Poke Mart. Or you can save the money.
Edit: Got so excited to post I forgot to tag people. RIP.
Going to post the first post very shortly! But just an fyi, I'm having the whole "gifting Pokemon egg" event be a festival and named it the "New Beginnings Festival." I added a little blurb about it on the lore section of the OOC page. Nothing's changed, just gave it a name. But wanted to inform y'all prior so people aren't confused.
Edit: Got too excited and forgot to tag people for the first post! Whoopsie!
Anywho, looking forward to this rp! Got quite a bit planned so hope you all enjoy it!
And just fyi, although the first post is long: I do NOT expect regular posts to be. Just so that's clear.
Edit(x2): I'll post Mags and (what I consider) Noah's first post later.
Edit(x3): Forgot to mention Noah's egg's description, so I edited that in the first post. I also edited in his profile a cute little image of it! Can't wait to see what eggs everyone picks out!
[center][h2]Your Character's Name[/h2][/center] (Your Post) (If you're responding to someone directly, be sure to tag them)
For now, I’m keeping it simple since we can just turn to the IC character sheets for specific information (items/wallet, Pokemon on hand, etc.). But that may change depending on the RP and/or people’s preferences.
Name: Alexandra ‘Alex’ de Vries Age: 19 Gender: Female, she/her/they. Appearance: Alex dresses with comfort and style primarily in mind, favoring baggy and loose clothes with sharp color combinations. She almost always wears her cap, preferring to hide her expressions and the risk of anyone recognizing her as a media empire nepo baby. With average height and a half-effort to not stand out amidst others her age, she puts on a front that is almost suspiciously ordinary. That goes for all accessories and extras as well, her clothes and trainers are expensive on closer inspection, but purposely picked so as to match current styles on Starre. The real hint is her transceiver, the latest model with a sleek and exclusive black case in a zorua-theme.
Contest Outfit: None yet Swimsuit: Full body one-piece with distinct and eye-catching color combinations of black, white and orange. Hot Outfit: Usual outfit with jacket tied around waist. Cold Outfit: Puffy black jacket and thick orange scarf with luxury branding.
Hometown: Diamond City, Starre Role: Adventurer
Personality: Alex is a dedicated slacker and under-achiever, often putting more effort into being contrary than being helpful. Despite that rather palpable facade, she has a strong sense of justice and morality. This usually ends up throwing wrenches in her attempts to be aloof and detached, bubbling to the surface in acts of rebellion, teenage angst, and bitter dislike of authority.
She tries to keep others, both Pokémon and people, at a distance, convinced that others are just out to use her for money or connections. Internally, she's fighting a battle between finding where she belongs and fits in, and being a stoic and immovable disappointment to her parents out of spite.
Despite all that, if one can get past the venomous silence and sardonic barbs, they'll find a woman longing for something new and exciting. Maybe even lasting connections.
Background: Alex is the second child of the current heads of the prestigious de Vries family, a dynasty of producers and starmakers from Unova who emigrated to Starre before Alex was ever born. There they expanded their reach and constructed a media empire built on coached Pokémon Contest talent, sold contest merchandise and variety programs and news in the Pokémon world.
They made their real mark on Starre history by worming their way into the Contest scene as playmakers and entertainment providers, but also played a pivotal role in continuosly pushing the narrative of Cassandra Stern's guilt seventeen years ago. They more or less declared war on Starre’s previous beloved to increase their ratings, and that controversy and media spin dominated much of Alex early life.
Her proximity to her parents made her deeply involved in the inner workings of media at a young age, and without the pressure to learn the business - that burden lay on her older brother - Alex was free to play the part of public darling and even appeared on TV as a child in small programs for children.
Alex grew up with a silver spoon, wanting for very little, and being brought up close to the operations of the media corporation and it's ruthless way of making headlines and stars. She was trained early on to be the next big star of Pokémon. Contests, a homegrown talent for the dynasty. As such, her entire life has been scheduled and predetermined. Her friends and activities have been vetted and optimized for future potential, and every public appearance has been maximised for a future role as a big name in the Starre contest scene.
Alex, however, deeply resents this expected role, and though she has previously made a debut in smaller contests, she avoids them like the plague, resolving to never bow to her parents expectations. It began small with self-sabotaging and acts of rebellion. Ultimately, it spun out in a massive argument where she threatened to leak a company scandal to the public. Her demand? Let her do what she wants.
Surprisingly, her father agreed and apparently wholeheartedly supported her.
Her now sudden debut as a real Pokémon trainer is a ploy from her father to give her more worldly experience, before she inevitably gives in and follows the life-plan her parents have set up for her.
She'll die before she becomes a slave to the contest spotlight. Right..?
Talents/Weaknesses: Alex is trained in academics and business strategy, having a relatively deep understanding of how to make the most out of the connection between pokemon and humans from a managerial perspective. She is also no slouch at either Pokémon contests and media production, although she is extremely loathe to use those talents. Her main weakness is her own stubborn suspicion against others, refusing to put her own skills to use or believe people have her interests at heart. She has also never really cooked a meal by herself, or really formed a connection with a Pokémon. She is not good at it.
Aspirations: NEVER participate in a Pokémon contest. Other: Alex probably listens to Pokémon grunge music and EDM. Wallet: 500.
x1 Potion
Species: Rockruff Name: Comet Level: 5 Type: Rock Gender: Male Personality: (Brave) Rocky is a headstrong and brave little guy. He does not necessarily like staying back, and seems to have learned to have a sense of justice from his trainer. He dives in to protect others, sometimes even against Alex's will. He loves running around and challenging both humans and Pokémon, mostly playing around, but he doesn't back down from a real scuffle. Other: He likes Pecha berry poffins. Ability: Vital Spirit; Comet is an active and hyper little puppy, and remains awake and upright even when Pokémon try to put him to sleep. Held Item: Shell Bell, tied around his neck.
Sheen: 0 Ribbons: None yet.
Battling:
Tackle - Deals Rank 1 base damage. Leer - Lowers the opponent’s defense by one stage. Sand Attack - Lowers the opponent’s accuracy by one stage.
Contest:
Tackle - Tough. Appeal; ❤️❤️❤️❤️. Quite an appealing move. Leer - Cool. Appeal; ❤️❤️. Jam; 🖤. Badly startles Pokémon that the audience has high expectations of. Sand Attack - Cute. Appeal; ❤️❤️❤️. Makes audience expect little of other contestants.
Comet don't got no moar moves oh no
Ooooh, delicious drama potential with Cassandra Stern. *rubs hand together*
Aside from some questions I have just to clarify how you want the history/dynamic between Cassandra Stern & the de Vries family (Which I'll just PM/DM you later about), she's accepted and you can go ahead and put her on the characters tab! Although, for Comet's hider tag you put "Rocky," did you mean to put Comet or is that just a reference to that it's a Rockruff?
So, with that, we'll be starting sometime today! Yippee! :)
Edit: If you want, you can give Comet an egg move. Not sure if you saw I changed my ruling on that (not sure if I edited the rules in time for when you read them). But you can give one egg move to the starters & egg Pokemon.
Enzayne
Alby47
imia
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Lexisheeps
